Painting transformer end bells

[rsumperl]

Greetings everyone,
I just had a pair of end bells blasted to get all the old paint off. The question is should I paint the inside?

Thanks,
Ray

[tubelab.com]

If you live anywhere where the humidity is high, paint them, otherwise they will rust. Bare steel lasts about 5 minutes in south Florida.

[rsumperl]

Thanks, my intention was to put the oven on low when the wife is at work and bake after painting. And yes, I had lived in Melbourne for quite a few years and unless it was painted, it rusted!

How's the sweep tube experimentation coming?

[tubelab.com]

How's the sweep tube experimentation coming?

I have very little time now since I tend to be at work for most of my awake hours right now. I should get at least 2 days out of the 3 day weekend coming up, so there might be some glowing tube time. I finally got to stick a pair of the 35LR6's that I got at the Dayton hamfest into the red board and crank 250 watts out of a single pair of tubes.

I recently blasted and painted the end bells from some old HP transformers for reuse on some open frame OPT's. I primed them inside and out with flat black RustOleum spray paint, then sprayed the outside with several thin coats of Krylon gloss black. I just left them outside in the sun to dry. They came out very nice.

[rsumperl]

Do you suggest I prime first? I did buy the rustoleum paint, but didn't give priming a second thought.

[tubelab.com]

In my case I had several cans of paint already from other projects. The Krylon specifically stated to "prime bare metal" on the label, and the Rustoleum said that it could be used on bare and even rusty metal. The rustoleum wasn't shiny, so I used it as a primer, and as the top coat for the laminations.

[Miles Prower]

Originally Posted by rsumperl

Do you suggest I prime first? I did buy the rustoleum paint, but didn't give priming a second thought.

Definitely use primer.

It is also a good idea to prepare the surface by giving it a good scrubbing with plenty of soap and hot water to de-grease it. Dry well, and then wash it down with acetone. This helps remove any residual grease, and helps remove moisture. Once this is done, don't touch the surface, and prime with the Rustoleum red iron oxide primer (reddish-brown in color). Let dry 24 hours, and don't touch. Then paint with the color of your choice (I use Rustoleum paint for this as well).

This is how I painted the steel chassis's of a couple of projects I did, and haven't had the paint bubble up and peel yet.

[nic6paul]

Originally Posted by Miles Prower

Definitely use primer.

It is also a good idea to prepare the surface by giving it a good scrubbing with plenty of soap and hot water to de-grease it. Dry well, and then wash it down with acetone. This helps remove any residual grease, and helps remove moisture. Once this is done, don't touch the surface, and prime with the Rustoleum red iron oxide primer (reddish-brown in color). Let dry 24 hours, and don't touch. Then paint with the color of your choice (I use Rustoleum paint for this as well).

This is how I painted the steel chassis's of a couple of projects I did, and haven't had the paint bubble up and peel yet.

I have used that primer as well on a really rusty trailer we use at work and that paint has stuck to it for five years now with no signs of bubbling or flaking.

[rsumperl]

What is the feeling about air dry vs low temp oven dry. My thought since the wife will be at work is to do a low temp oven dry.

Thanks,
Ray

[tubelab.com]

It is also a good idea to prepare the surface by giving it a good scrubbing with plenty of soap and hot water to de-grease it. Dry well, and then wash it down with acetone.

Yes, clean is important. I used a Scotchbrite pad with water. After dry, wipe down with a lint free cloth and a solvent. I use lacquer thinner or mineral spirits, and work outdoors. Acetone has a lower flash point than gasoline. I saw two incidents of spontaneous trash can fires due to acetone before it was banned from the factory and replaced with some Freon derivative, which has also been banned.